CAMPGROUND TO CLOSE DURING MILITARY TRAINING

CAMP PENDLETON 
The San Mateo campground at San Onofre State Park will close to the public for two weeks in June because of military training, the Marine Corps announced.

Camp Pendleton’s 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and international troops plan to use portions of the park during their annual Dawn Blitz amphibious operations exercise, June 15-30.

The Marine Corps has leased the land to the California Department of Parks and Recreation since 1971. The lease allows the military to continue training in the area given proper advance notice, the Marines said in a news release.

Camp Pendleton notified the state in August that it planned to use that option; it “has been in continuous coordination with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, as well as the California Coastal Commission concerning the closure of portions of San Onofre State Park for military training,” the Marines said. The Corps also posted notices in newspapers.

The brigade-sized, multinational exercise usually involves Navy ships and landing craft, Marine assault vehicles and aircraft. The Marines and sailors will practice beach landings and other maneuvers on areas of the base normally leased to the state for park use, as it has in previous decades, the Corps said.

Camp Pendleton is preparing an environmental assessment of the training.

For more information, contact Camp Pendleton public affairs at (760) 725-5799.